


Fictober 2019 Symbiot3

by DyraDoodles



Series: Venom 616 [3]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Venom (Comics)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 15:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 4,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21283784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DyraDoodles/pseuds/DyraDoodles
Summary: I didn't get all the prompts done but here's like 13 tiny scenes with the symbiot3 gang. There's one chapter where they talk about how humans taste and that's literally the only reason this fic is rated M.
Relationships: Eddie Brock/Flash Thompson, Eddie Brock/Flash Thompson/Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, Flash Thompson/Venom Symbiote
Series: Venom 616 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1458739
Comments: 21
Kudos: 46





	1. It will be fun, trust me

**Author's Note:**

> At an outdoor fair.
> 
> “It will be fun, trust me.”

“You do realize that carnival games are all rigged,” Eddie stated, eyeing Flash with a dubious expression.

“Yes, but you should play with me anyway,” Flash told him, paying the woman behind the counter and picking up a rifle. He grinned broadly at Eddie, hoping the expression would be enough to convince his boyfriend to indulge him. “It’ll be fun,” he insisted. “Trust me.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but approached the stand anyway, selecting his own rifle. His brow furrowed for a second, questioning, before his lips quirked into a confident smirk.

Flash watched Eddie out of the corner of his eye, frowning as he readied his aim. Eddie was up to something. The symbiote too, judging by how the other man was suddenly so at ease after all the protesting.

The attendant hit the buzzer to start the game, and Flash no longer had time to wonder, too focused on shooting down targets as soon as they popped up.

Next to him, Eddie knocked down target after target, hardly needing to shift to outpace Flash.

By the time the buzzer sounded again, Eddie’s score  _ obliterated _ Flash’s. The veteran’s lips parted in surprise, turning to Eddie with a questioning, almost scandalized look. “How the  _ hell—? _ ”

“Which prize would you like?” Eddie beamed.

“...That one.” Flash, still holding eye contact with Eddie, pointed at a large stuffed koala.

As the attendant pulled down the prize, Eddie huffed at the choice. “ _ That  _ one?”

“Reminds me of you,” Flash shot back, thanking the woman and setting the koala plush on his lap. The pair turned to leave, and once a decent distance away from the stand, Flash nudged Eddie’s side. “What did you  _ do? _ ” he hissed. “You barely pulled the trigger!”

Eddie grinned at him, looking far too pleased.

“You cheated,” Flash accused.

“We did no such thing,” Eddie chuckled, scratching the back of Flash’s neck affectionately.

As he did, the symbiote snuck down his wrist, chittering quietly in Flash’s ear, “ **No rules against symbiotes knocking the targets down.** ”

“Yep, you definitely cheated,” Flash shook his head, leaning into the klyntar’s nuzzle. He grinned up at Eddie, sure his boyfriend was about to protest more. Before Eddie could do just that, Flash held up the koala. “You did it for me, though, yeah?”

“We did,” Eddie confirmed, leaning down to kiss Flash’s forehead.

“ **Let it slide** !” his partner pleaded.

  
The veteran hummed, smirking at him. “Well...The game’s  _ are  _ rigged.”


	2. Just follow me, I know the area

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to Klyntar

“Just follow me,” Flash told Eddie, walking through dense ferns, his prosthetics doing him no favors on the shifting, living ground beneath him. “I know the area.”

“Do you? We might know it better than you,” Eddie shot back with a smirk. “My other would know better, at any rate.”

“I’ve been to Klyntar, too!” Flash argued, waiting for Eddie to catch up to him.

“Yes, briefly,” Eddie acknowledged. “My other’s memory of it is ingrained, though. Intrinsic.”

“Show off,” Flash muttered, attempting to storm through another set of low-hanging leaves, only to find himself curiously entangled by symbiotic tendrils. He let out an undignified yelp of surprise, squirming until Eddie came over to gently remove the other klyntar.

“Why don’t _we _lead?” Eddie suggested, black quickly covering his body.

Flash pursed his lips together, sulking at Venom, until they leaned down to nuzzle against his head. “Ugh, _fine_,” he relented, rubbing his hand along their cheek. “I’ll follow you.”

“**We will keep the foliage out of your pretty face,**” Venom promised, grinning widely. “**Living or otherwise.**”

“So gallant,” Flash huffed, walking behind them.

With Venom leading, it didn’t take them long to reach a clearing. The trees stretched high, branches sometimes shifting to accommodate other creatures bounding through the branches. Below, a few alien animals watched Venom and Flash pause, interested and cautious, but not remotely skittish.

As the symbiote drew back from Eddie’s face, the man looked around in wonder. “It’s glorious,” he said, voice hushed. “_Everything_ is…?”

“Everything’s in symbiosis,” Flash confirmed, taking one of Venom’s large, clawed hands and directing their arm over his shoulders. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Amazing.”

“Still jealous I got to go here first?” Flash asked, grinning up at his boyfriend.

“A little,” Eddie chuckled, turning to the veteran with a warm gaze. “Less so, now that I’ve seen it for myself.” He leaned down, a little, pressing a kiss to Flash’s lips. “And, now that we have you,” he murmured.

Flash hummed, smiling into another kiss.


	3. Now? Now you listen to me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cooking adventures

Flash watched with increasing agitation as Eddie gingerly placed an oven mitt over his burnt hand. “Now? _Now_ you listen to me?” he scolded.

Eddie practically pouted at him. “It’s healing! We’re fine!”

“You wouldn’t _need_ healing if you’d just put the damn mitt on in the first place like I told you to!” Flash argued.

Eddie, with the symbiote peering over his shoulder, pulled the casserole they’d made out of the oven, placing it gently on the stove to cool. “It’s fine,” he told Flash, mitted hands up in a display of innocence. “Casserole’s fine, we’re fine, it’s _fine._”

“You just don’t wanna admit you’re too stubborn to follow directions,” Flash scoffed, ignoring the fact that the casserole had come out exactly as Eddie had been instructed to make it.

Eddie rolled his eyes, turning to his other.

“**Flash is right,**” it told him. “**You didn’t listen.**”

“Darling, come on,” Eddie laughed. “It wasn’t just _my—_”

“**You were wrong!**” the symbiote insisted, lifting Eddie’s hands higher. “**Should have listened!**”

“Okay!” Eddie relented. “Okay, yes, I should have put the mitts on before trying to grab it!” Symbiote pacified, the burly man did fully pout at Flash then. “...We’re _hungry,_” he muttered, in way of explanation.

“And also a doofus,” Flash pointed out, arms crossed.

“Are you going to stop teaching us to cook?” Eddie frowned, a little worry behind the expression.

It was Flash’s turn to roll his eyes. “C’mere,” he gestured for the man to lean down. Once Eddie was low enough, Flash placed his hands on the journalist’s cheeks, scratching gently beneath soft, trimmed beard. “You’re a doofus,” he repeated, smirking, “But you’re _my_ doofus, and _no_, I won’t stop teaching you how to cook. You gotta be more patient.”

Eddie’s eyes shut, and he smiled as Flash continued scratching. “You’re a saint,” he murmured.

Flash snickered, pulling him down for a kiss. Then, when the symbiote extended its own little head, pressed a kiss to it, too.

“**Can we eat now?**” the klyntar asked hopefully.

Flash sighed as Eddie grinned. “What did I _just_ tell you?”


	4. I know you didn’t ask for this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CUDDLES

“Flash?”

The veteran hummed, not wanting to open his eyes. Too cozy, all wrapped up in blankets and symbiote tendrils, and Eddie’s big, strong arms. The laptop was playing a three-hour video of a crackling fireplace. A perfect winter’s day of lying on the couch together, even if winter hadn’t quite hit yet.

“...are you happy?”

The question prompted Flash to actually open his eyes, then, to look confusedly at Eddie. “Yeah?” he answered, squirming to get a good look at his contemplative boyfriend without dislodging himself from all the cuddling. “Why?”

Eddie frowned slightly, one hand rubbing idly between Flash’s shoulder blades. “I know you didn’t ask for this,” he muttered. “...to be with us. It’s more...happenstance.”

“Isn’t that how life works?” Flash asked with a smirk. “You overthinking on me again?”

“**Yes,**” said the symbiote, forming a face to direct a tired glance to its host. “**Thoughts keep spinning, Eddie. Stop.**”

“Sorry, love,” the journalist murmured.

Flash wrapped his arms more snugly around Eddie’s sides, burrowing into their makeshift blanket nest on the couch. “I couldn’t be happier,” he smiled into Eddie’s shoulder. “Nothing’s better than cuddling my partners when it’s cold outside.”

“**Would be better with hot chocolate,**” the symbiote rumbled.

Flash pointed to it, nearly poking the tip of its head. “I stand corrected. Hot chocolate would make me the happiest man alive.”

Eddie huffed a laugh. “We would have to get up to make some.”

“_Nooo_,” Flash whined, clinging to him. “I’m comfy!” He turned to the symbiote, eyes pleading. “Sweetheart…?”

“**Don’t want to move either!**” it complained with a hiss.

Eddie rolled his eyes, shifting to sit up despite Flash’s protests. “Someone has to make it if we’re going to have _any_.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want the cuddling to _stop!_” Flash clung onto him tight, refusing to be moved and aided by the symbiote connecting the two men.

Eddie snorted, standing, lifting his boyfriend with one arm and keeping a blanket around Flash’s shoulders with the other. “Only need one had,” he told the veteran, pecking Flash’s cheek. “Hold on.”

Flash did, curled up, cozy and content as Eddie went about retrieving mugs and hot chocolate powder. As the symbiote helped out, Flash leaned into Eddie’s cheek. “This is better than anything I could’ve asked for,” he mumbled, feeling Eddie smile in answer.


	5. I might just kiss you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash gets a massage

Flash let out a moan, his head lolling forward as Eddie’s thumbs pushed into the knots in Flash’s shoulders.

“_That_ was an interesting sound,” Eddie chuckled, digging into the stiff muscles.

“Feels so _good_,” Flash groaned, content to let the other man work his back into putty. So much time sitting, working at a desk—Even all the exercises Flash would do to counteract the effects wouldn’t keep him completely knot-free. They’d been sitting on the couch, watching tv, when Flash started complaining about the stiffness in his neck.

Now, Flash found himself almost in Eddie’s lap, back being worked to the consistency of silly putty.

Eddie hummed, working his hands a little lower, letting the symbiote take over on Flash’s shoulders.

Black tendrils spread over the expanse of Flash’s back from Eddie’s hands, exploring and massaging.

“This has to be the best massage of my _life_,” Flash huffed out, melting into the warmth the symbiote provided. “I might just kiss you.”

Eddie’s hands met Flash’s hips, and the older man pulled Flash closer, leaning to murmur in the veteran’s ear, “Quite the enticing proposition, Flash.”

Flash turned to Eddie with a lazy grin. “You gotta keep going, though.”

Eddie returned the grin. “I think we can manage that.”


	6. Yes, I’m aware. Your point?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is a workaholic

“Y’know you’ve been working on that article for like…” Flash checked his phone for the time. “...Six hours.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Eddie stated, turning to his boyfriend. “Your point?”

“Have you gotten up to stretch?” Flash asked.

“I’ll lose momentum if I do that now.” 

“But—”

Eddie turned back to the laptop, typing out another sentence. “I’ll be done in a bit.”

Flash approached the couch, leaning on the arm rest with a frown. He rested his chin on his arms, watching as his boyfriend continued to write, the symbiote nestled sleepily on his shoulder.

It looked as bored as Flash felt.

“...Workaholic,” the veteran mumbled accusingly.

“The more work I do now, the more money I’ll earn to pay the _bills_, sunshine,” Eddie countered blandly, eyes narrowing at something on the screen. 

“I’m _also_ paying the bills,” Flash pointed out. 

Eddie sighed, shutting the laptop to look at his boyfriend. “Is there something you need? Is that why you keep pestering me?”

“Attention?” Flash grinned.

Eddie rolled his eyes.

“**Want to go out,**” the symbiote complained, its form rippling in a strange sort of stretch. “**Want to go _do_ things.**” 

“We _were_ doing things,” Eddie argued, only to be met with narrowed, white slits for eyes. “We were _working_.”

“**Bored!**” the symbiote declared.

“Two votes for you to quit working for the day, we win,” Flash declared, sitting up. “C’mon, Eddie, let’s go! It’s gorgeous outside.”

Eddie found himself standing in spite of himself, the symbiote nudging his legs to get moving. It spread over his shoulders, forming a sleek, fitted leather jacket, perfect for the autumn weather. He grumbled, but acquiesced, grabbing Flash’s jacket for him before they left.

Once outside and walking, enjoying the warm sun and light breeze, Flash grinned up at Eddie. “See? Isn’t it nice?”

Eddie tried to frown. He did. 

Looking at Flash’s bright happy eyes rendered his attempt entirely impossible. 

“Fine,” Eddie sighed, scratching the back of Flash’s head affectionately. “You were right.”


	7. No, and that’s final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grocery shopping for Halloween candy

_ **Eddie.** _

“No, love,” Eddie whispered.

_ **Eddie, please.** _

“_No_.”

_ **Eddieeeeeeeeeee— ** _

“No, and that’s _final_,” Eddie growled, earning a concerned look from Flash. “Wants me to buy the whole damn _aisle_,” the journalist explained to their boyfriend, gesturing to the Halloween candy on prominent display. Specifically, all the assorted chocolate.

_ **Discounted! Halloween special!** _

“We can get a bag or two,” Flash said, looking over the different combos.

“You’re enabling,” Eddie told him, eyes narrowing.

“Can’t really help it when it needs the phenethylamine,” Flash noted idly, moving to hook his arm around Eddie’s. He leaned his head on the journalist’s shoulder, but smiled warmly to the collar of Eddie’s jacket. “Don’t you, sweetheart?”

A small mouth formed along the seam at Eddie’s shoulder, and the symbiote’s tongue shot out to quickly lick Flash’s cheek. 

The veteran laughed, grabbing a couple bags of candy.

“You’re soft, Thompson,” Eddie sighed, holding up the basket for Flash to drop the bags into.

“You are _way _more of a softie than I am, big guy,” Flash countered, smiling knowingly. “Who’s the one that bought twelve boxes of hot chocolate again?”

Eddie frowned.

_**It was you, Eddie**_.

Eddie frowned harder. 

“We need some for trick-or-treaters, too,” Flash decided, adding another bag.

“We’re going to eat all of this long before any children get into costume,” Eddie warned him.

Flash pondered the information, and then shrugged, leading Eddie by the arm. “More for us, then.”

_**Tell Flash we love him**_, the symbiote ordered.

“You’re only saying that because he’s letting you gorge yourself,” Eddie grumbled.

_ **Tell him!** _

As Flash turned questioningly to Eddie, the journalist sighed again. “My other wants to tell you we love you.”

Flash beamed, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s cheek, and the non-fabric on Eddie’s shoulder. “Love you, too.”


	8. Can you stay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash has a bad morning

Flash’s bad days were rare nowadays. Sporadic. A conglomeration of a million little annoyances that snowballed into a weight that left him reluctant to bother getting out of bed. 

It was a Sunday. Early morning. Nowhere near the time Flash felt was decent for a normal person waking up. At least, _he_ never got up this early on Sunday mornings.

Beside him, Eddie snoozed, blissfully unconscious, jaw slack against the pillow. 

Flash was envious, unable to get his thoughts back in order. Dwelling on the past. On what could be. On what he might screw up. 

_“It’s like peace brings panic,”_ he recalled Eddie telling him. Things went too well, for too long, and they started checking the skies, waiting for the other shoe to come crashing down on their heads. Couldn’t focus on _now_. Now was too good. Too quiet. Too _easy_, with Eddie taking his meds on time, every day, attending therapy regularly. With the symbiote getting supplements, not starving or drugged to oblivion. With Flash back to attending meetings, managing flares of anger with healthier coping mechanisms. 

They worked all week. Came home to each other. Relaxed. Curled up in a soft, warm bed, safe and secure in love. 

And yet, all Flash could think of now were all the times he’d held happiness in his hands, and _screwed everything up_.

The veteran stared at Eddie’s sleeping form, lifting a hand to trace his thumb along Eddie’s jawline. 

The motion stirred the symbiote, a tendril reaching from Eddie’s neck to Flash’s fingers. The tendril squeezed, gently.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Flash whispered.

More of the klyntar spread over his hand, until the back of it was entirely covered. Two curious eyespots formed on the surface, blinking at Flash. A questioning chirp.

Flash tried to smile at it. Tried to reassure. He felt so tired, too tired to even manage a fake quirk of his lips.

Eddie breathed in sharply, face scrunching in an expression that made it clear he was unhappy to be waking. However, when he opened his eyes and saw Flash, the annoyance melted away into an easy smile. “Morning, sunshine,” he greeted warmly.

Flash tried a little harder to smile back.

“What time is it?” Eddie asked.

“**Six-thirty,**” the symbiote answered, having checked Eddie’s phone.

Eddie groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “...Should probably get up, anyway.”

“It’s a Sunday,” Flash protested, rubbing Eddie’s cheek again. 

“News never sleeps,” Eddie huffed. “We should finish up that article we were working on.”

“**Food?**” his other prompted, hopefully.

Flash frowned. He didn’t want to stay in bed without them. He didn’t want to get _up_, either. “Do you have to?”

Eddie hummed, running a warm hand up and down Flash’s side. “Doubt we’ll fall back asleep again. Might as well get some work done.”

Flash curled closer to Eddie’s chest. “...Can you stay? Please.”

Eddie’s arms wrapped around him in an instant, joined in turn by several connecting branches of symbiote. As Flash pressed as close as he could, Eddie frowned. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m...not, really,” Flash admitted, mumbling into Eddie’s shoulder.

“**What’s the matter?**” his partner inquired, its head resting in the crook of Flash’s neck.

“Bad headspace,” Flash explained quietly.

Eddie kissed his temple, and then rested his own head on top of Flash’s. “What do you need?”

Flash wasn’t entirely sure. He knew what he _wanted_, but whether it would help banish the cloud in his mind, he wasn’t certain. “Hold me,” he decided. “Tell me everything’s going to be okay. Stay here.”

The symbiote drew the blankets over them all, tucking them back in. 

“Don’t worry, beloved,” Eddie muttered, pressing another kiss to Flash’s forehead before settling down to snuggle. “We’ll stay as long as you’ll have us.”


	9. There is a certain taste to it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watching bad Halloween movies - THIS ONE'S THE CANNIBALISM ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is 100% a crackfic because, realistically, this whole conversation would probably be much more serious. Couldn’t resist making it ridiculous, though.

Eddie and Flash had come to find that they both had startlingly similar experiences as the host of the Venom symbiote. From bizarre bonding to dealings with different aliens, what constituted as _normal_ for the pair was starkly different from that of your average human.

Especially once you threw in the cannibalism.

They were watching a movie—some bargain bin Halloween flick, the title already forgotten as the supposedly plucky (mostly obnoxious) heroes dealt with the horror of being tricked into eating their friends.

“‘Tastes like chicken.’ Why do they always say it tastes like chicken?” Eddie scoffed, arms wrapped around Flash from behind. “That isn’t how human meat tastes.”

“There is a certain taste to it, but...Isn’t chicken the normal meat for comparison?” Flash asked, leaning his head back to look at his boyfriend.

“It’s nothing like chicken,” Eddie grimaced.

Flash stared at him. “...I mean, _I_ know that, and _you_ know that, but I’m pretty sure the directors don’t know that. Can’t really expect them to be willing to research what humans taste like.”

Eddie was quiet for a moment, before acquiescing with a mumbled, “True.”

They watched a few more minutes of the movie before Eddie was harping on it again.

“Is his character solely comprised of _spite?_” the journalist questioned. “Is there really nothing else to his personality?”

Flash snickered. “Sure doesn’t seem like it.”

“What was his name again?” Eddie asked, looking to his symbiote, resting quietly on his shoulder. “Do you remember?”

“**Wasn’t paying attention**,” his other admitted, one tendril pulling the half-empty popcorn bowl to itself.

“I know they said it, but I think that was when they introduced the hot alien,” Flash noted.

“You got distracted by the hot alien, didn’t you,” Eddie asked him.

Flash gestured at the screen. “It has tentacles! Of course I did!”

“_That’s_ why you picked this movie,” Eddie accused with a grin. “You just wanted something to indulge your kinks.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t _share_ that one,” Flash shot back, narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend.

“Maybe,” Eddie grinned wider, the symbiote spreading over half his face as he leaned down to nip at Flash’s ear. They grinned in tandem at their beloved’s gasp.

“I thought you wanted to watch movies tonight,” Flash huffed a laugh, baring his neck for their elongated tongue.

“**Making us hungry for something else**,” Venom rumbled, hands wandering, gently tugging Flash’s shirt up. Their tendrils roamed, trailing over their boyfriend’s chest.

“I told you this was a good pick,” Flash smirked, only to let out a short moan as they continued to touch.

“**The movie is atrocious**,” Venom growled, “**but at least _we_ have a happy ending**.”


	10. Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom likes to show off for Flash

“**Listen, we can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust us.**”

Flash looked as though he was debating how much he trusted Venom, as they were perched precariously on top of a high-rise. He’d let them carry him here, happy to join in the fun of swinging around New York for a bit, but their sudden insistence that they could leap from the top of this building and _not_ shoot some webbing was drawing concern.

“**We will be fine, beloved**,” Venom assured him, bringing Flash close to lean their head against his.

“Why can’t you just _tell_ me what your plan is?” Flash questioned, arms tight over their shoulders.

“**Doing so would ruin the surprise**,” they grinned.

Flash could tell he wasn’t going to get an answer out of them. Not unless he gave in. 

So he did, pressing close and making _damn_ sure that there was zero chance of him getting dropped. 

“Okay,” Flash said, nervously glancing at how far away the ground was. “I trust you.”

Venom grinned, and they leapt, Flash tucked securely against their chest as they plummeted toward the ground. Then, from their back, tendrils separated and reformed into two, gargantuan wings. They flapped, hard, ending their descent and managing more of a glide, until they began ascending again. They flew over the other buildings, nudging Flash to get him to look.

Flash’s eyes were wide as they soared. “You have wings!” he shouted over the wind. “Since when do you have fucking _wings?!”_

“**Having fun?**” they questioned, beaming.

“Are you kidding?” Flash laughed, eyes alight with wonder. “This is amazing! _You’re_ amazing!”

Venom pressed their head against Flash’s again, proceeding to let him direct their flight path, all through the night.


	11. I never knew it could be this way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash contemplates domesticity

As Eddie took care of the dishes, Flash watched. The veteran couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d washed the dishes himself. So many little jobs were just..._absorbed_ by Eddie’s desire to help out around the apartment.

Now, as Flash watched a tendril extend with a clean dishcloth to start on drying, he smiled fondly. “Thanks, babes,” he murmured, coming up next to Eddie and rubbing a hand on the small of his back.

Eddie turned to him, smile lighting up those bright blue eyes that Flash loved so much, and then leaned over to kiss the top of Flash’s head. “We’ll finish up soon enough, if you want to get the next episode started.”

Flash beamed, heading over to the couch. Once situated on the cushions, and Netflix up and running, he made himself cozy as he waited. 

Behind him came the comforting noises of Eddie scrubbing the pan clean, and the gentle _clink_ of the symbiote placing another dish in the dry pile. 

The whole evening felt so absurdly domestic to the veteran as he drew a blanket over his thighs. So calm. Peaceful. It was almost the norm, now, too. Everyday life came with plenty of ups and downs. Super-powered and not. Still, it wasn’t nearly so dramatic as some of his previous relationships. 

Eddie, having finished with the dishes, plopped down on the couch right next to Flash, pulling him close. “Ready?” he asked, pressing another kiss to Flash’s temple.

Flash chuckled warmly as the symbiote kept him in position, curled up in Eddie’s arms. “Yeah,” he confirmed, making himself comfortable and using Eddie’s shoulder as his pillow. As Eddie took control of the remote, Flash muttered, “I never knew it could be this way.”

“What’s that?” Eddie asked, turning to Flash.

“This. Us,” Flash elaborated. “I dunno. A lot of my life has always felt super complicated and this just...works, for some reason.”

“**Works because we make it work**,” the symbiote rumbled, snaking over Flash’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I guess,” Flash smiled. “I like it.”

Eddie leaned his head on Flash’s with a warm hum. “Us, too.”


	12. I can’t come back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom sucks at communication

Flash clutched his phone, eyes wide as he tried to process what he’d just heard. “You...what?”

“_We can’t come back,_” Eddie repeated, a frustrated sigh coming from his end of the line. “_We’re sorry, sunshine._”

Flash grit his teeth. He’d told them. Told them _long_ before they gathered enough money for the trip that they shouldn’t go back to California. That home was _here_ now, with _him_.

And now Eddie had the _gall_ to call him and say— 

“_Once we submit some of these articles, we should have enough for the bus,”_ Eddie continued.

The new information had Flash blinking, bringing one hand to his forehead. “Wait,” he started, shutting his eyes. “Wait a minute. Are you fucking ditching me, or _what?_”

“_Ditching—? What? No!_” 

“You called and the first thing you fucking say is that you can’t come back!” Flash shouted. “The fuck is that supposed to _mean_, Eddie?!”

“_We’re out of money!_”

Flash stopped. Took a sharp breath. “Excuse me?”

“_Our paycheck hasn’t come through!_” Eddie explained hastily. “_We don’t have enough for the trip home yet!_”

Flash leaned his head back on the couch, glaring at the ceiling, wondering not for the first time how someone who was a literal wordsmith for a living could be so impossibly terrible at communication. “Babes.”

“_**Coming home as soon as we can!**_” Venom assured him, voice combined as if in hope it would calm their beloved.

“Oh my god,” Flash groaned. “Why didn’t you _start_ with that?”

“_**We…**_” they trailed off, Eddie and symbiote both probably wracking their mutual knowledge for why the _hell_ they’d picked that statement to begin the conversation. “_**...We’re sorry, Flash.**_”

Flash sighed, loudly, relaxing. “You know I could _send_ you some money, right?” When there was a pause on the other end, utter silence denoting that they had _not_ thought of that, the veteran groaned again. “I love you _so _much, but _Jesus Christ.”_

“_**...could you send us some money, sunshine?**_” they asked. “_**...please? We love you?**_”

“You’re taking care of trash day for two months,” Flash stipulated. 

“_**Done,**_” Venom laughed. “_**We’ll see you soon.**_”


	13. You keep me warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom comes back from patrolling sometime during winter

Flash’s eyes blinked slowly open at the sound of someone at the window. He didn’t move from the bed, too nestled up in covers. 

Besides, Venom could get in on their own.

Which they did. A thin, black tendril slipped under the frame and unlatched the window, and soon it was wide open, allowing Venom to clamber inside.

Flash noticed, groggily, that Eddie had already been mostly uncovered when they reentered. As the other man approached the bed, the symbiote had disappeared entirely. It wasn’t normal. Flash frowned. “Everything go okay?”

“Found some thugs trying to rob a jewelry store. Lots of alarms, lots of bullets,” Eddie explained tiredly, lifting the covers on his side of the bed. “We’re okay, but my other is exhausted.”

“Needed a lot of healing?” Flash questioned, a little more awake now, what with the cold breeze that had infiltrated his cocoon of warmth.

“Yes, but we’ll be fine. Extra phenethylamine will put us right as rain,” Eddie said as he clambered into bed, a tendril sneaking out of his shoulder to rummage through the bedside table drawer. It pulled out several bars of their chocolate stash, absorbing them whole into its mass without bothering to unwrap them.

Flash settled back down, waiting for Eddie to snuggle up behind him so they could all get some rest.

When Eddie did touch him, though, he was _freezing._

Flash yelped, squirming for safety on the warmer side of the bed. “Holy _shit_, you’re cold!”

“It’s cold outside,” Eddie pointed out with a huff. “Of course we are.”

“You coulda told me you were gonna wake me up with ice hands,” Flash whined. He felt Eddie shift behind him, reaching an arm around Flash again. This time, though, they were comfortably toasty, covered in symbiote.

Eddie’s legs, on the other hand, were not.

“Better?” Eddie asked, pulling Flash closer, the veteran’s back pressed close to his chest.

“...your torso’s warm but your legs and head aren’t,” Flash pointed out, brow furrowed in the dark. “This is a really fucking weird sensation.”

Within seconds of saying so, a thin layer of symbiote dropped on the side of Flash’s head with a tired _splat_.

“Uh,” Flash began, not sure what to make of this new, strange layer of heat.

Eddie snuggled closer, resting his own head on top of the symbiote, and Flash’s. “That should cover the worst of it. We’re sorry we’re making you cold.”

Flash snorted, reaching to touch his cheek where the symbiote was laying. “It’s okay. You keep me warm. Most of the time, anyway.”

A tiny tendril wrapped around one of his fingers, squeezing tiredly before retreating.

“I’ll make you a ton of hot chocolate tomorrow,” Flash promised, yawning.

Eddie hummed, the sound accompanied by a low, inhuman rumble. “**Love you**.”


End file.
